Spreadsheet software, such as MICROSOFT's EXCEL software, operates to simulate paper spreadsheets, also sometimes called worksheets, or workbooks, in which columns of numbers are operated upon mathematically, e.g., summed, multiplied, etc., for budgets, plans, models, and other tasks. A typical spreadsheet software user interface appears on screen as a matrix of rows and columns, the intersections of which are called “cells.” The cells can be filled with labels, numeric values, or formulas. Labels are descriptive text such as “Rent” and “Gross Sales.” Values are the actual numeric data, and formulas command the spreadsheet to perform specific calculations based on the values; for example, the formula SUM CELLS A5 TO A10, may cause the spreadsheet software to sum the cells found at column A, rows 5 to 10. Formulas allow interrelationships of cells, and they are easy to create. For instance, one may merely point to a cell and click, and then press a key (+, −, etc.) of any arithmetic operation intended to affect the cell. For example, the creation of a formula might be “the contents of this cell PLUS the contents of this cell DIVIDED BY the contents of the next cell over to the left.”
After numbers are added or changed, the formulas generally recalculate the data automatically or at the initiation of the user, e.g., with the press of a key. This can create a recalculation “ripple” effect throughout multiple cells. Since the contents of any cell can be calculated with or copied to any other cell, a total of one column can be used as a detail item in another column. For example, the total from a column of expense items can be carried over to a summary column showing all expenses. If the contents of a cell in the detail column changes, its column total changes, which is then copied to the summary column, and the summary total changes.
Such a ripple effect lets a user create a plan or model, plug in different assumptions about the model, i.e., change parameters, and immediately see the impact on the bottom line. This “what if?” capability makes the spreadsheet indispensable for budgets, plans, and other equation-based tasks. The “what if?” capability thus allows users to change underlying parameters, such as interest rate, of a mathematical model, such as growth of bank account over time. The “what if?” similarly allows a user to change underlying facts, such as starting bank account balance, the formulas interrelating the cells, such as calculating interest with or without a formula that compounds interest, and even the names of the cells to address different mathematical scenarios.
Thus, spreadsheets include business logic in the form of models and calculations, as well as data. A workflow is a set of relationships between the activities in a project, from start to finish. Activities are related by different types of trigger relation. Activities may be triggered by external events or by other activities. There are many business workflow scenarios that may be suited for calculation and extraction of values from database workbooks, such as MICROSOFT EXCEL workbooks. Workflow processes are often asynchronous to user intervention and thus need to work on server automated systems. Software driven workflows usually have the need to work asynchronously, without user intervention. Spreadsheet calculations have not been capable of being called in an automated workflow.
Moreover, significant critical data resides in spreadsheets today. This data may either be a result of calculations, queried from an external source, typed in, or combination of these. It is often desirable to track specific values in a spreadsheet over time and act based on changes in the values. Today this requires opening the spreadsheet periodically or keeping it open and refreshing the calculations to update any external data queries or volatile formulas and then visually checking the values of interest. If the values have not changed or have not met a threshold that would require action, the time the user spent opening and refreshing the spreadsheet is wasted. Moreover, even if the threshold is met, the user's time is wasted while waiting to refresh and calculate the spreadsheet. Attention is also a valuable resource that is wasted because the process requires periodic polling.